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The purpose of this study was to refine, test, and demonstrate the applications of an instrument (the Community Adaptation Schedule) for assessing community adaptation within the psychosocial context defined by contemporary community mental health theorists and practitioners. Subsequent to formulating an operational definition of community adaptation via test construction, the new measure was administered to samples of mental health professionals, outpatients, and psychiatric hospital patients. The schedule was effective in producing significant differential patterns and scores for the study groups on most of the adaptation indices. Further, it showed high reliability, high predictive value in determining group membership, and a strong covariant relationship with a Social Activity Inventory, used as a validation measure.

THIS PAPER outlines the background to the conceptualization, and the tentative instrumentation of "community adaptation." Data from an initial study using the "Community Adaptation Schedule" is presented. Applications for the evaluation of community mental health programs are discussed. The Need for Program Evaluation The interest being stimulated in the field of community mental health compels attention to the many voices 1 raised in warning about the need for research and evaluation. Properly feared is a possible digression that may cause embarrassment decades hence. The undertaking of carefully controlled studies in this field has been hampered by the lack of sound evaluation techniques. Besides the Well—known difficulties of measuring change after an intervention, the absence of an appropriate criterion relevant to the goals of community mental health makes the task that much harder. Approaches embodying crisis consultation, multilevel prevention, short-term treatment, sector analysis, and the